"Oh, is he?" suddenly asked a funny little Wooden Donkey with a head
that wagged up and down. "Is he going to climb a string again and burn
his red and yellow trousers as he once did?"

"Indeed I am not!" exclaimed the Calico Clown himself. The Clown was
leaning against his friend Mr. Jumping Jack, who was a cousin of Jack
in the Box. "I'm not going to give any special exhibition like that,"
went on the Clown. "I'm just going to do a few funny tricks, such as
standing on my head and banging my cymbals together. And, I am not
sure, but I may ask a riddle."

"Will it be that one about what makes more noise than a pig under a
gate?" inquired a Celluloid Doll. "Well, yes, it will be that riddle,"
replied the Clown, trying to look very stern.

"That's the only riddle he knows," whispered the Elephant.

"What I should like to know," said the Camel, "is why a pig should
want to get under a gate, anyhow. Why didn't he stay in his pen?"

"Oh, there's no use trying to make you understand," sighed the Clown.
"I'll just have to dance around, do a few jigs, bang my cymbals
together, and do things like that to amuse you."

"Well, we'll have a good time to-night, anyhow," said the Celluloid
Doll. "We really haven't had much fun since the Candy Rabbit and the
Monkey on a Stick went away. I wish--"

"Hush!" suddenly called the Calico Clown. "Here come the clerks. The